I’ve been watching Star Trek: Voyager all the way through and I really relate to B’Elanna Torres, namely in the way that she loves banana pancakes and so do I (she also loves Tom Paris and so do I, but I digress). Since I can’t just ask Neelix to make me some (er, replicate some), I am forced to prepare them in the traditional way.

This recipe is pretty much the same as the blender waffles one I already posted, except it is pancakes. I originally came up with a different recipe, but it just wasn’t as good as this one, so I figured, why bother messing with what works?

To make pancakes super fluffy, try using seltzer water instead of milk or regular water!

B’Elanna Torres Banana Pancakes

Based on this recipe for waffles from VegWeb
Gluten free, sugar free, vegan

2 cups rolled oats or quick oats (use gluten free oats to make it GF)

2 cups of water, seltzer water, or almond milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 stevia packet or a few dashes uncut stevia

1 very ripe banana

a little oil or nonstick spray for greasing the pan/griddle

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Preheat a griddle or cast iron or nonstick pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray or lightly grease with coconut oil if necessary.

Pour about 1/3 cup of batter onto the skillet to make one pancake. I use a ladle for this, but you can also eyeball it if you’re skilled like that.

Once the top of the pancake has holes and is mostly matte instead of shiny, as seen in the photo above, its ready to be flipped. Use a spatula to flip it over.

Repeat this for the rest of the batter. This recipe yields about 6 pancakes depending on how you make them.

Once finished, garnish with additional bananas. B’Elanna’s topping of choice was maple syrup, but I prefer chocolate peanut butter on my pancakes:

In this video, I and my andorian family from The Farthest Star talk about how to make “andorian ale” 😉 and how to prepare food in a hotel room when you’re at a con in our latest installment of in Development for Priority One!!!

I like how in this picture of us enjoying “andorian ale” at Dragon*Con, you can see my Hello Kitty flask on the table. LOL!

A few weeks ago, Creation Entertainment had an official Star Trek convention here in Boston. After having so much fun at the one in New Jersey, I couldn’t wait to go to another one.

Although the con didn’t officially start until Saturday, registration and the vendor’s room opened Friday. There was also a pre-con meetup in the Sheraton that night. So I got my wristband and then went to the meetup. I made new friends and the loves of my life from The Farthest Star were also in attendance.

I don’t really drink that often anymore, but I had some that night!

After a few drinks at the Sheraton with our new friends, we went to Trident Cafe on Newbury Street for some tea and then called it a night.

The next day, it was the official start of the con. I wore my shirt from Singularity&Co., which I originally got at DS9con!

I got to the con just in time to see the end of the costume contest. I did not watch it, but I got my pic with the winner, who I of course thought was amazing!

Shortly thereafter was the first Q&A of the day – Michael Dorn and Suzie Plakson. I couldn’t really take pictures, unfortunately – the Hynes has infamously bad lighting, and it was even worse in the main room where all the panels were held. Anyhow, I’ve seen Michael Dorn before at Dragon*Con, but I had never seen Suzie before! They were so funny, plus Michael Dorn spoke in his Worf voice at one point and it absolutely made my day. Seeing him is always awesome!

There was a few hours break for me after that, so I took that opportunity to visit the vendors hall. One of the sellers had a bunch of books and these beautiful DS9 ties (above) that I absolutely loved. And that Chip-n-dip that I talked about in my DS9 con post was there too!! It’s following me from con to con, I swear:

I ended up getting a couple TOS patches to use in future sewing projects.

The next Q&A was George Takei – which I was really excited about, cuz I’d never seen him in person before. I’m so happy I was finally able to – he was such an inspiration! The questions from the audience were all pretty good (for a change), and he told us stories about being on TOS and about his work in the LGBT community which was great. He is so charismatic! Just thinking about it makes me want to watch TOS again.

Then it was time for the last panel of the day, which was Brent Spiner and Gates McFadden (Data and Dr. Crusher from TNG). I saw them both at Dragon*Con before, but seeing them together again was awesome! Gates McFadden was so sweet and elegant, and Brent Spiner was… Brent Spiner! Oh, at one point, Gates McFadden mentioned working on Labyrinth and I was like WHAT because I had no idea she had anything to do with that movie, but apparently she was the choreographer for it. THE MORE YOU KNOW!!

I didn’t have a ticket for the TNG reunion (they cost extra and Jonathan Frakes wasn’t going to be there anyway so… No thanks). Besides, I had sewing to do, and I was starving so after getting some snacks at Trader Joe’s across the street, I went home.

So… Since we didn’t have a hotel room for this con, I didn’t want to cosplay. I refuse to be in costume in public, especially the train. I don’t wanna deal with creepy people while cosplaying, I have to do that enough in my real life. BUT… I wanted to dress up in some way, just in something a little less …alien than my Andorian costume. I considered making a TOS or TNG uniform, but when I saw the above fabric selection at Joann, I changed my mind. I decided to make a dress instead. After some debating, I went with this fabric:

I stayed up till 2 on Saturday night making it so I could wear it Sunday. I used a not-so-simplistic Simplicity pattern. This is how it came out:

I overslept slightly as a result of staying up too late, so I rushed to the convention center because I wanted to be there to see Nana Visitor and Rene Auberjonois at 10:20. I was late but luckily the panel was delayed anyways due to a power outage!

I met up with Kate and Robyn and we ate snacks that I brought until the panel began. Although I had already seen Rene Auberjonois at DS9 con, seeing him alongside Nana Visitor was completely different. Speaking of which, I had never seen Nana Visitor before (we didn’t wake up early enough to see her at DS9 con), but she was incredible! First of all, she looked even more beautiful than she did on DS9, and not only that, she SANG during the Q&A and sounded amazing! Rene Auberjonois also sang (his song from the Little Mermaid) which I thought was the greatest thing ever.

We stuck around for the next Q&A, which was LeVar Burton and Marina Sirtis. This was probably the best Q&A of the weekend for me. I had never seen either of them before (despite the fact that LeVar has been at Dragoncon a bunch of times, I’ve just never been able to make it to any of his panels), and I’m so happy I finally got to! I grew up watching and loving “Reading Rainbow”, so I’ve been a fan of LeVar since then, so seeing him in person was really exciting. At one point, someone asked him about the new Star Trek films and he said that Gene Rodenberry’s was what was missing from them and I COMPLETELY agree. Another fan asked him about the book he wrote called Aftermath – I had no idea he wrote a book! He read the preface to us though, and having him read to me in person after growing up watching him on Reading Rainbow was so cool.

I had no idea what to expect from Marina – but I LOVED her!! How outspoken she was, the stories she shared, her accent, everything. I’m going to aspire to be more like her from now on. She also looked incredible. I have an even deeper appreciation for Troi after seeing her.

After that, we went to Trader Joe’s and got some delicious vegan and raw stuff to have a picnic lunch.

2:30 rolled around and it was William Shatner o’clock. I saw him with Leanord Nimoy at Dragon*Con a few years back, but he was even better this time. The questions from the audience were worse than usual (seriously, practically every person who asked him a question was trying to show him their script/album/whatever), but luckily he didn’t waste too much time on answering them. He talked about how he raises dobermans, said he was coming out with a new album soon, said “how do you like them apples” in the Shatner voice, and waxed poetic on the zen of riding horses.

Denise Crosby (who played Natasha Yar on TNG) was up next – I hadn’t seen her before, but Yar was my favorite on TNG before her character’s departure, so I was pretty excited. She was so warm, loving, and sweet. She talked a little big about Star Trek Online and how she does the voice of Sela. It really made me want to play the game!

Last but definitely not least was Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura on TOS. For some reason this particular Q&A had a moderator and he interviewed her before the fan questions started. I’m not going to lie – he was extremely annoying and I felt as though some of his questions were inappropriate. Nichelle did get to talk about her performance roots, though, which was really interesting. The best part, though, was when someone from the audience asked her what her best fan experience was. She told us about Sally Ride, who was inspired to become an astronaut after seeing Uhura on TOS, and went on to become the first American woman in space. Nichelle told the story so beautifully, I actually got a little choked up. It was a great way to end the con.

Overall, it was no DS9con, 😉 but it was an amazing time nonetheless! Next year, my Andorian family and I plan to get a hotel room so we can cosplay! I’m so looking forward to it. If you’re going, I’ll see you there!

about adorpheus

I'm a musician and a cosplayer. I watch a lot of Star Trek and listen to a lot of Elliott Smith and eat a lot of chocolate. I mostly post about veganism, because being a vegan is pretty great. Sometimes I post about the other things I do. I was featured on MTV's True Life. Read more...